Tooth-pick device



(No M odel.)

J. HOFFMAN.

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wrrmzsszs: INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFr'rcE.

JAMES HOFFMAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TOOTH-PICK DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,087, dated May 6, 1884.

V Application filed January 22, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tooth-Pick Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to furnish a device for holding a silk thread or its equivalent for cleaning the spaces between teeth, which may be conveniently carried in the pocket, and in which the thread will not be soiled or broken by contact with other bodies.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal central sectional elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the spindle or 'reel; and Fig. 4, aside elevation of the cylinder.

A is'the reel or spindle, which may be constructed of bone, rubber, or any other suitable material,

B represents the cylinder, which may be made of metal or any other suitable material.

C and D are jam-nuts, which are placed on the spindle A, as shown.

' E represents the thread.

The spindle A has substantially the shape shown in Fig. 3. L

a is thereel upon which the thread is wound.

b b are bearings upon which the cylinder which covers the thread bears. The cylinder B, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, is furnished with a slot, 0, through which the thread from the reel a passes. This slot is to be preferred to a circular hole, for it allows the thread to be always taken from the reel at right angles; bgt a circular hole may be used, if desired. The cylinder B is held firmly in place by the jammoved and the thread is wound upon the reel.

The end of the thread is now passed through slot 0 and the cylinder is put in place. In the event of the thread jamming the cylinder while said cylinder is being passed over the bearing b, I have furnished this bearing with a slot, 6, in which the thread may lie while the cylinder is being passed over it. When B is in place, the nuts 0 D are screwed on and the device is ready for use.

The advantages of a thread for cleaning the spaces between teeth are well known, and the herein-described device will allow of a considerable amount of thread being carried in the pocket without danger of its becoming soiled.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The herein-described device for holding thread for cleaning'teeth, consisting of the spindle or reel A, cylinder B, and jam-nuts G D, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein-described device for covering the thread, consisting'of the cylinder B, furnished with a slot, 0, or its equivalent, said cylinder revolving on bearings b l) on spin dle A, substantially as set forth.

JAMES HOFFMAN.

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W. O. BOLGIA-NO,

CHAS. A. BUTTER. 

